1 Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the provision and billing of utility services to customers"" residential and commercial facilities. More particularly, the invention concerns a system for providing utility services such as electrical power, and billing them to customers independent of the normal utility provider.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical power is produced by a variety of different means today. In addition to nuclear and hydroelectric generators, many power plants employ boilers and steam turbine generators powered by hydrocarbons such as natural gas, oil, and the like. Power plants are operated by electricity generation companies, also known as xe2x80x9celectricity service providers.xe2x80x9d This raw electrical power is commonly processed by transformers to increase its voltage, for transmission purposes. Then, an xe2x80x9celectric power transmission companyxe2x80x9d transmits the electricity over various long distances using large power distribution circuits supported by appropriate towers, poles, and other suspension means. This process is commonly called xe2x80x9cwheeling.xe2x80x9d Electricity ultimately passes to a switchyard, which in turn passes the electricity to a local substation. At the substation, and then at local transformers near where electricity will be used, the electricity is lowered to a safe voltage for homes and businesses, such as two-hundred-twenty volts and one-hundred-ten volts and then delivered to the customer. Regardless of which electricity service provider originally generated the power, electricity flows from the substation to the customer under control of an xe2x80x9celectricity distribution companyxe2x80x9d who typically owns the local power lines and distribution equipment.
At a customer""s premises, there is an electricity meter, which measures power utilization in appropriate units such as kilowatts. The meter is interposed between transmission lines emanating from the local substation""s distribution transformer and a circuit xe2x80x9cbreaker boxxe2x80x9d where electricity first enters the customer""s premises. Field employees of the electricity distribution company periodically read the local meters, which measure power in suitable units such as kilowatt-hours. Ultimately, these readings are used to generate the customers"" electricity bills.
The foregoing arrangement has been used successfully for some time, and enjoys considerable, widespread success. Accordingly, this power distribution scheme is likely to continue for years to come. Nonetheless, the present inventor has reassessed this arrangement with an eye toward uncovering any limitations and making appropriate improvements. In this respect, the present inventor has recognized that this arrangement may not be particularly well suited to certain users, such as residential customers of lower incomes, for the following reasons. First, a customer with weak credit references might have difficulty initially establishing an account with the electricity distribution company. Furthermore, it may be difficult or even impossible for the customer to establish an account if the customer has previously had power turned off due to nonpayment.
For customers without electrical power, there may be numerous undesirable, unsafe, or even dangerous results, such as the unavailability of heat during cold winter months, inability to properly refrigerate perishable foods, and lack of lighting sufficient to prevent crime and navigate through dark households. If the customer can ultimately overcome the financial hurdles, there is the additional potential inconvenience of having to wait several days for a field employee of the electricity distribution company to arrive at the customer""s residence and turn on the power. Consequently, due to the previously discussed situations along with other unsolved problems, the known arrangement for providing and billing for electrical power is not completely adequate for all customers.
Broadly, the present invention concerns a power metering apparatus with an activation feature that selectively provides power to a residential or commercial electrical facility depending upon whether the customer has made prepayment or other sufficient arrangements to purchase electricity. The power metering apparatus is inserted between an electricity distribution company""s meter and a suitable location of customer""s electric system, such as the breaker box. An intermediate entity, called a xe2x80x9cpower interagentxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cutility interagent,xe2x80x9d makes appropriate financial and other arrangements for continued delivery of electrical power from the electricity distribution company to the customer. This may involve, for example, establishing an ongoing account with the electricity generation, transmission, and/or distribution companies for the provision of electricity to the customer""s electrical facilities, where the power interagent is responsible for payment. Whenever the customer wishes to have electric power available, the customer submits prepayments or other suitable payment assurances to the power interagent. Prepayments may be made by various means, such as (1) purchasing a magnetic, optical, or xe2x80x9csmartxe2x80x9d circuit card and locally presenting the card to the power metering apparatus, or (2) providing advance payment or payment assurances to the power interagent via telephone, internet, physical mail (such as U.S. Postal Service, express delivery, courier, etc.), personal delivery, e-mail, or another suitable means. Whereupon the power interagent sends machine-readable notification of the prepayment to the metering apparatus via telephone modem, digital subscriber line (xe2x80x9cDSLxe2x80x9d) modem, cable modem, wireless, or other conveyance means. Ultimately, the power metering apparatus activates or deactivates depending upon whether the customer has made sufficient prepayments. Although the invention contemplates customers"" advance payment for power, the power interagent may accept other advance guaranty or payment arrangements that are herein referred to as xe2x80x9cprepayment.xe2x80x9d The metering apparatus may also initiate communications to the power interagent to report power usage statistics to the power interagent.
In addition to electrical power, the present invention may also be implemented in the context of other services, such as natural gas, water, telephone, cable television, etc. However, for ease of discussion, the example of electrical power is used throughout the present description as a brief example.
In one embodiment, the invention may be implemented to provide a method to operate a prepaid power metering system, or a method of doing business by providing electrical power to customers on a prepaid basis. In another embodiment, the invention may be implemented to provide a prepaid power metering system or similar apparatus. In yet another embodiment, the invention may be implemented to provide a signal-bearing medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital data processing apparatus to operate a prepaid power metering apparatus. Another embodiment concerns logic circuitry having multiple interconnected electrically conductive elements configured to operate a prepaid power metering apparatus.
The invention affords its users a number of distinct advantages. With this invention, for example, customers can quickly obtain electrical power for their houses. Customers need not wait for the electricity distribution company to activate an account and dispatch a field employee to the customer""s premises to start power. This invention utilizes remotely controllable equipment to selectively enable or disable electrical power, where this equipment is installed at the customer""s house. Thus, the power interagent can immediately enable power whenever the customer makes an appropriate prepayment for electrical power. Thus interrupted service may be restored promptly upon payment. The invention affords customers with a number of convenient ways to make prepayment to the power interagent. The customer can authorize debits to a credit card or bank account over the telephone, submit credit card payment or bank debit authorization via e-mail or internet web site operated by the power interagent, submit funds by wire transfer, or submit a check or credit card payment by physical mail (such as U.S. Postal Service, express delivery, courier, etc.), personal delivery, or another means. According to another prepayment technique, the customer can purchase a convenient-card containing a fixed amount of xe2x80x9ce-kilowatt-hoursxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ce-funds.xe2x80x9d
Another advantage of this invention is that it enables customers with low income or poor credit histories to easily obtain electrical power. To the power metering apparatus of this invention, a customer""s credit history or income is irrelevant so long as the customer makes sufficient payment arrangements, such as paying for electrical power in advance. As still another advantage, the customer may enjoy cost savings obtained by the power interagent""s wheeling of power.
From the perspective of the power interagent, a number of benefits exist as well. For example, customer payments are made by suitably reliable means such as bank account debit, credit cards, and prepayment, thereby avoiding potential losses by uncollected accounts receivable. Furthermore, the power interagent may negotiate low rates on purchases from power suppliers with substantial spreads between purchase and sales prices, thereby increasing profit. The invention also provides a number of other advantages and benefits, which should be apparent from the following description of the invention.